


A Search for Return

by ihaveraccoo_n



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Alternative Universe - Alternative World, Gen, M/M, Magic, Mechanics from other games, characters and places are their official scrapped versions of themselves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:02:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27597260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ihaveraccoo_n/pseuds/ihaveraccoo_n
Summary: Link follows the words of a Korok explaining that his old sword is in the Lost Woods and enters it in search of that very sword...but gets lost and finds himself in a place that's like a twisted dream Hyrule full of different monsters, and everyone he knows looks—and even acts—different.Nothing is right and he just wants to go home, for he still has his Hyrule to save!
Relationships: ???/Link, Link & Prince Sidon, Revali/Prince Sidon
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	A Search for Return

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Even though this may just sound like "botw but Link ends up in a hyrule where everyone is just their scrapped designs", but it's not! I suppose you can think of it kinda like Termina? Where it's like an alternative Hyrule but they all have their own problems? There's no grand "the world is ending and you're the only one who can save it" thing here—but Link still has to do his fair share of work and meets his fair share of problems!
> 
> Anyway, I hope you can enjoy your stay here!

Wood snapped, pebbles bounced away. Branches reached out, latching onto everything and anything it could grab hold of. The only other sounds in the area came from Link himself, in the form of ragged breaths leaving his lips but leaving no effect on the dense, neverending fog. Yes, fog. Fog, fog, and more fog. For hours now, his view has been nothing but fog. At least that creepy laughter had stopped a while ago, but now it was just eerily quiet. Alas, you win some you lose some. 

At this point, Link had given up on finding the end of the forest, and just wanted to leave the damn place. But he couldn't. Why? Because not only was his sight completely obscured with too-thick fog, his Sheikah Slate's map decided that it was just the perfect time to turn into static, meaning he couldn't fast travel. At all. 

He had plenty of food. The slate held almost limitless amounts, after all. He had clothing for every weather and almost any scenario and blue chuchu jelly for water. So Link wasn't worried about survival. What Link was worried about was being stuck in a forest of fog for eternity without a map. Because not only would that suck, but because he kinda has a divine duty to finish that he was kinda in the middle of doing. 

But no matter how many marks Link left—from trails he dug into the ground as he walked, to carvings in the many trees, to even just walking in just one singular direction, he always seemed to wander on back to the same general spot. When that spot stopped being in front of two torches exactly, he doesn't remember. 

"Oh Hylia…" Link cursed under his breath upon the realization he ended up at the very same spot for the upteenth time. He nearly chucked his spear at the tree by him in frustration. "Farore, give me strength." He gritted out instead, taking a deep breath before marching off in a random direction.

Maybe he was missing something. Maybe this was a trial. He hadn't heard the voices of any monks yet, but you never know with these ancient Sheikah guys. This must be an incredibly challenging puzzle for him to solve or something. He must be overlooking the clues. Puzzles always had a hint or two. Maybe he missed some bright orange glowing orbs or torches or a secret path or something along those lines. Or, maybe, (hopefully) a secret monster he needs to find and slay.

And if Link were to be honest, a monster sounded good, because he was seriously close to considering either arson, or deforestation. But that wouldn't be very hero-like, would it? No. Using the perfectly good meteor rod sitting in his slate on these trees he's seen for hours wouldn't be the ideal action of a divine hero or whatever. 

Alright. So he needed to look for clues. Simple enough. Usually, when Link got lost, he'd climb up somewhere high or use Revali's Gale to gain height quicker. But, when previously trying that, he had found out that upon landing he'd end up at the start again. How that worked, Link had no clue. He stopped questioning how things worked when a dead man told him he was to save the world on the same day he learned what an apple was. Link had also given up on trying to follow a particular path, and was simply wandering around whatever direction he felt like, seeing as all led him back to square one anyway. There were no sounds coming from around him, not even from a bug. All sounds came from him and his interactions with his environment around him. He was starting to think he was going to go insane at this rate, and constantly checked his Slate every few minutes in hopes of seeing a map there for him to fast travel out. Each time resulted in failure, and at this point Link would welcome back the creepy laughter of children he heard the first half hour or so in here. It was just too damn quiet—a tiny squeak sounds from the far right, causing Link to whip his head in search of the cause of the sound.

A Blupee. 

There was a Blupee. 

There was an actual, living, glowing Blupee. Link hadn't seen a lick of life outside of plants since the laughter stopped, now that he thought about it. Not a crow, not a fox, not a Bokoblin, not even a Skal. But there was a Blupee, in sight, staring right at him. And then it ran. 

"Wait!" He yelled, probably startling the animal and causing it to book it faster. Link cursed under his breath before darting after it. Blupees were fast little critters, disappearing after noticing people and running after a shot or two from an arrow. Normally, one couldn't catch up with a Blupee. 

Luckily, Hylians had a few tricks to get around problems like these. 

"Damn. These are hard to make…" Link grumbled, summoning two vials from his slate. Downing the green one was easy, but Link hesitated heavily before downing the blue one. Two steps later, Link was gifted with a burst of speed which allowed him to keep up with the runaway Blupee. He summoned another stamina elixir to keep ready in his grasp. 

The Blupee ran in a tricky, twisted path. One which Link clumsily followed. He almost lost it more times than he could count, with all his tripping and getting slapped with tree branches or getting something snagged onto said branches. But, thanks to downing the strongest speed elixir that can be made (and the glowing the Blupee had in the fog), he managed to more or less keep track of it. It wasn't easy, but Link had done more challenging tasks before. Just when Link was getting more confident, he tripped on a tree root and landed flat on his face. When he looked up, the Blupee was gone. 

But so was the cursed fog. 

"I'm...out..?" Link fumbled for his slate and opened his map. Not static, but black. It looked exactly how it did when he first woke up in the Shrine of Resurrection, with no fast travel points to boot. At least now he had that familiar golden dot pinpointing his location. Which meant he was out of a signal blocking area. Which also meant he was out of that damn place. "I'm out!" He cheered with a loud whoop. He was dirty, sweaty, and covered in scratches, but who cares? He was out! He was finally free! 

Link made a mad dash forward towards the brightest area. Trees gradually faded, the land became more leveled and lush with plantation. Butterflies fluttered by him, wings beat in the distance as they flapped away, a little brown fox scuttered away with a startled squeak. More life came into view, and with it, came sunlight. It was bright, and oh so beautifully clear of fog. Not even a cloud in sight in the sky and— _what in the great holy name of Hylia is that?_

"That" was a—well, _**something**_ —sitting in the middle of the plain, half the size of a Hinox, yet three times more terrifying. Two visible skulls (Link could only guess two more were behind it) with blood red eyes and countless coarse hairs pouring from the teeth rested on two spider, yet bird-like, legs. Despite Link having froze the moment he noticed it, it appeared as if his previous run of laughter and near prancing certainty caught its attention. Despite the bright sunlight, Link could see its eyes glow just before it moved into a stand and oh wow update: it was the size of a Hinox. Also update—it just looked like skulls, every hole was an eye. And every eye was looking directly at him. Oh how nice, it had arms the size of its legs, just what he needed! An absolute monstrosity charging straight at him with an ear piercing screech whilst reaching for him! 

You know? Those monsters Link thought were ugly? He was wrong. Very wrong. They were kinda cute, in a way. That thing charging at rapid speed despite its size? Not cute. Not cute at all. How does he even—right, yes, eyes. It's the size of a Hinox so perhaps it's slayed the same. Lucky him, it has plenty of eyes to shoot! 

"Good thing I just bought bomb arrows!" He laughed, broken and near maniacally. The steps the monster made didn't shake the ground like a Hinox did, despite its massive size. But it screeched like a banshee, ran with the speed of a Guardian, and reached out with long, boney fingers that flexed and unflexed repeatedly, as if imagining that Link himself was already in his grasp to crush and fling freely. His breath was caught in his throat, his arms up to the very tip of his fingers which were trying to aim trembled, swallowing was a challenge for his overly dry throat. Link was its prey, and that monster was his predator.

And he couldn't be more excited to fight it. 

"Finally! A real challenge! I was getting tired of Bokoblins and Keese!" Perfecting his stance, Link released the arrow with a grin. It flew true and struck the beast right in one of its many eyes, exploding on contact. It bellowed in pain and recoiled its hands to cover the eye—again, much like a Hinox did—and Link was half expecting it to drop to the ground for him to attack, too. But it didn't, it only violently shook before screaming in what sounded to be rage and charging after him again. Link clicked his tongue and darted to the left, trying to maintain some distance between them. 

While running, Link raised his bow again and tried to aim. It wasn't easy, but this certainly wasn't the first time he's done it and it definitely won't be his last. His main arrow was off target slightly, but luckily, he was using his only 5x Savage Lynel Bow, and one of the arrows which spread had hit the other eye he was aiming for. The same thing as before happened, a recoil, screech, and charge, which led Link to the belief he'll have to do the same for every eye. Rinse and repeat, he thought to himself. 

"But how do I get the ones behind it? Even with my speed boost, I can't circle behind it fast enough…" Would Stasis work on it? For how long? Well. Time to find out. 

Pulling out the Sheikah Slate, Link quickly selected the Stasis Rune and directed it at his target. He counted the moment it froze. _1...2_ — **beep** — _3_ — **beepbeepbeepbe** —the chains snapped and the monster resumed its charge.

 _'About 3 and a half seconds, it seemed.'_ Link thought to himself. That was more than enough time to shoot every eye at the front with that weird time slowing ability of his. Unfortunately, it drained him to use. But not so unfortunately, he recovered quickly.

Link waited until he heard the chime signaling the Rune cooldown was over and used it again before dropping down into a crouch, summoning the gale. Winds roared in his ears, eager to throw him upward, and he let them do exactly that. The spirit of Revali appeared just like it always did, circling around him in a perfect and flashy show of aerial skills, only to jerk to a stop at the very end at the sight of the still frozen monster. A look of befuddlement and disgust flashed on his face, beak turned away before his entire form disappeared. Yeah, for once Link agreed with Revali. 

**Beep beep—** Link drew his bow and once again took aim. He released arrow after arrow, each slowed second draining him from all energy. _One, two...three_ — **beep beep** — _...four...five, six_ — **beepbeep** — _seven_. The chains shattered and Link allowed time to return to normal with it, weak arms pulling out his paraglider to slow his fall. Link kept his legs locked to keep from dropping, breathing heavily to try to catch his breath. He pulled a minor stamina elixir and quickly downed it, releasing a sigh of relief when his energy returned to him. 

It was hard to truly relax though, with the monster screaming bloody murder and wildly swinging its arms. But, just as Link suspected, it turned around with its only good side left (that looked almost exactly the same as the front, with only the middle eye shut. He'll deal with that later) and ran towards him once more. Which was kinda bad, if Link were to be honest. The speed elixir he took earlier was starting to wear off, and he only had one more high one left, which he _really_ didn't want to use due to its rarity and difficulty to make. Plus, Stasis was still cooling down, and Link only had one more use of Revali's Gale. 

Well...if worse came to worst, there was always Mipha. 

Link dodged the attempt of smashing him during his internal monologue with perfect timing, allowing that all too familiar slowing of time to activate as he lunged towards the wrist of the monster. He slashed it in rapid succession before leaping back when he sensed the ability (and his strength) slipping away from him. When the flow of time returned to normal, it screamed just like always (at least Link was getting used to it) before retracting its hand and trying to swing at him. Link backflipped away. You know what? This wasn't too bad. Sure, a single hit might leave him half dead like a Lynel would, or maybe even almost dead and relying on Mipha to...not die, but all he had to do was not get hit. Simple enough! 

He had to gain distance though, before his elixir finally ran off, so he decided to do exactly that by once again using Stasis the moment it was available and running away. Huh. For a hero he sure did a lot of running away. The sound of snapping chains and angry squeals deafened Link's ears, preparing him for continuing his sprint until Stasis was ready again. Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. 

Legs burned with the strain of being pushed past their limits with an elixir, lungs stinging alongside them with the strain of keeping up. Each breath hurt his throat, and he wanted nothing more than to stop and catch his breath. He slowed himself down marginally to regain his breath without having to stop entirely, keeping an eye on the monster behind him while counting down. The moment he reached zero he used Stasis and knelt down to a crouch, allowing himself time for a single exhale before summoning his last use of Revali’s Gale to send himself flying up. Drawing his bow mid-air, time slowed, his energy drained even further, and Link shot the remaining visible eyes. The moment he saw the arrows land on target, he released his time slowing ability with a large gasp and pulled out his paraglider before he crashed. His landing was far from graceful, being so out of breath and his legs giving out on him the moment he touched solid ground. Chains snapped and Link turned to watch the monster scream in the same screech he was growing tired of hearing. 

Then its final eye opened, bloodred with slitted pupils landing dead on him. Link clicked his tongue, forcing himself to stand up. 

"This thing will just _not_ die. How much health does it even have?" He was excited at first, but now this was just an annoying pain in the ass. Wherever, all he had to do was shoot the eye anyway. At least, he hoped. 

And, as if taunting him, the thing screeched once more before opening its mouth further and letting out dark purple gas. Oh Hylia, please don't be poison...you know what, it's probably poison. Deciding to be safe, Link swapped his current weapon with a Korok Leaf, glad he never got rid of it. Charging up some, he released a strong gust of wind that pushed away the gas and revealed the giant body of the mystery monster, which was now crouched low.

Oh great. More phases. Can’t he just shoot it in the eye and whack it with his sword a few times? Apparently not. Man, all he wanted was the sword that used to be his or something. The monster leaped up, leaving Link with just barely enough time to curse “oh fuck” and make a run for it. The sheer force of the monster’s landing ruptured the land and had Link sent flying into the air, a feeling all too familiar when he spent too much time stabbing a Hinox’s legs and it decided to try to sit on him in retaliation. He hurriedly scrambled to catch his footing in time to block the wide sweep of a hand approaching his side. He miscalculated both the strength and speed of the swing in his hurry, and instead of harmlessly deflecting it, it sent both his body, and his shield, flying. 

"Ghhk—!" Link grit his teeth as not only did his right arm dislocate, but the bone cracked. Not quite broken, no, because that didn't happen until he landed directly on said cracked and dislocated arm. "Gah!" He cried out. Curling in on himself, Link dug his left hand into the dirt as he willed himself to get up. His shield was lost, he was unarmed, and the monster was approaching with another wide swipe. On instinct, Link summoned the first thing in his slate inventory and threw it. It was a Lizal Tri-boomerang. Instead of simply getting stuck in the flesh of the monster, or worse, bouncing off harmlessly, it sliced around the entire wrist, cutting up the flesh along the way before traveling right back to Link. 

Screaming, the monster covers the new wound with its other hand. With both hands of the monster occupied, Link's jumps on the opportunity to finally finish this battle by freezing the beast for hopefully the final time and summoning a spear which flew the furthest in his inventory. He got into position, and, with all his might, chucked it at the final eye. He couldn't draw a bow in his current state, so he could only hope the spear flew true.

It connected. 

The monster fell, crumbled, almost, and then exploded in that familiar cloud of smoke. Letting himself release a loud breath of relief, Link also fell, too. Taking a few moments to simply catch his breath, Link relished in this victory of finally slaying that cursed, demonic thing. 

"Finally…" He heaved as he summoned a hearty elixir from his inventory, "I thought...I thought it'd never end. What even was that thing, anyway?" Link mumbled to himself before downing the elixir. He shuddered throughout the ever odd experience of healing injuries. His arm clicked into place, allowing him to feel the full effect of his broken arm which then painfully mended itself properly. He didn't recover completely, but he could at least stand and hobble over to the remains of the monster to see what he "won". And...it was a finger. 

The literal finger of the monster. Just, lying there. And also an eye. The only thing that had ever dropped eyes were Keese. That thing very much wasn't a Keese. Shaking his head, Link brought the scanner of the Sheikah Slate over the item to at least figure out what in Hylia's name that monster was. The slate made an error noise, displaying a `"???" `over the name of the object and a message reading, `"¿¿??" `along with Sheikah writing of the word "error" in the description. He tried again. The same thing happened, except this time, he got an additional message. 

`'Error: Item not found in database. New Database found. Connecting to database... Error: database connection is broken or blocked, attempting to connect to database again. (2) more attempts remain...Error: database connection is broken or blocked, attempting to connect to the database again. (1) more attempts remain…' `Link blinked at the message. Never before had he gotten messages outside of the usual messages he got whenever adding a new piece of his map or when he had gotten the runes. Afraid of somehow breaking the slate by messing with things when he shouldn't be, Link didn't touch a single button or even tap the screen as the slate ran its course. 

`'Error: database connection is broken or blocked. Please connect your slate to the main database terminal for access to the database. Error: connection to main database is out of range or blocked. Unable to access map. Unable to show location. Unable to use sensor function. Unable to use fast travel. Please get within range or reconnect by connecting your slate to a terminal belonging to your current main database.'`

"Huh." Link said aloud, raising the slate to the air, ""Out of range"? Does that mean I'm too far away from a tower? How...how far away would that be? I never lost connection outside of sandstorms…" The towers were everywhere, and he never had any connectivity issues unless he was smack middle of a sandstorm in the Gerudo Desert. Not even when he went to the farthest corners of Hyrule did he ever get such a message. What was going on? Where even was he? He didn't recognize his location at all. 

Well...maybe he can ask around as to where he was. He'd have to find people first, of course, but it shouldn't be too hard once he found a stable and—wait. 

"Oh Hylia, my horse!" He left her at the entrance of the forest! Not only will he have to walk on foot, but his poor horse will be alone! Sure, she was a wild horse before, but still! He really grew onto the horse, with her being such a sweet girl and always so forgiving, despite how hard he could sometimes push her. Brave, too, took him right to the forest without any fear of the fog, and was ready to walk right into it if he hadn't stopped her and firmly ordered her to stay. He had named her Sar, a name which came to him naturally the moment he mounted her for the first time. And now he's who knows where without her. 

Link turned around, facing the direction where he had originally come from, and stared right at the thick forest of trees and fog in the distance. He pursed his lips. Maybe there was another way other than wandering around for half a day in pure fog and confusion. 

Again, he’ll ask around. 

Snapping a picture of his newly received loot (which the Sheikah Slate _still_ failed to recognize), he decided to head the opposite way—far, _far_ away from that cursed forest. If this whole thing was a mere test of the Sheikah Monks, he would’ve already heard their voice in his head or seen a shrine or something relating to them. But there was nothing. Meaning this wasn’t a test, trial, challenge, or whatever the hell the Monks love to call them. He was flat out lost, and he needed people for information if his Sheikah Slate could do nothing.

* * *

`’Lurelin Village’` The sign read. He’s been following the setting sun for ages now. He’s been walking west. Lurelin Village was in the very southern east part of the map. He thought he was in a completely different place other than Hyrule, but he finds a sign stating a familiar name. Link should be relieved, except he isn’t, because he’s only more confused, as he’s been to Lurelin Village a fair number of times, and none of his surroundings are familiar to him still. WeSure, he hadn’t searched _every_ corner of Hyrule yet, but he’s fairly certain there isn’t a second Lurelin village in the East. Southeast is sand and heat. Northeast was snow and cold. Not tropical ocean villages. Link took a breath and began marching along the path pointing towards the supposed Lurelin Village. And then the sound of galloping approached him from behind. He turned around to see two horses pulling a cart. 

A carriage. The destroyed things left behind after the Calamity and fallen from existence due to the ease of monsters attacking them. Link gawked as he watched not one, but two people chatter amongst themselves as they guided the horses along the trail and past him, three more people and a child sitting in the back and laughing. They were laughing, and at ease, despite the monsters and...wait. Where have the monsters been? He hasn’t seen any after a few hours of walking in that plane. Luckily, there were only one of those giant monster things, but there were plenty of other weird monsters there. But none after he found a paved path. 

Link stood there like a fool before mindlessly continuing to follow the path, unsure as to what else to do. A party of well armed adventurers passed by on horses donned in fine crafted armour, laughing and talking of their plans which left Link. Beautifully yet simply built buildings began to make their way into Link’s vision, children playing with sticks and balls ran about, villagers walked around with baskets and bags, unlit lantern posts lined the now stone path and decor stood proud on perfectly cut grass. Link saw soldiers. _Soldiers_. Roadside merchants stood behind the counter of their mini shop, many selling various fish and some selling weapons and handcrafted jewelry. 

Where in Hyrule was he? 

“High reward for anyone who can slay the beast which has overtaken our land! We cannot guarantee your life, but we can guarantee a worthy reward!” A loud voice boomed, grabbing Link’s attention and whatinthenameofHyliaisthat? With an entirely blue and hunched body, long arms with clawed fingers, the finned creature with gills repeated the same line to any passersby within range. Was that...a Zora? A different type of Zora? Link had never seen anyone like that in the Domain, and he spent most of his time there when he wasn’t out dying for the sake of saving his kingdom. Were there other Zoras living outside of the Domain? 

“You there! Human! Are you willing to take on the challenge of aiding us in exchange for a reward worth a lifetime?” It took Link an embarrassingly long time to realize the Zora(?) was looking in his direction. Link looked around in search of anyone else, pointed to himself, and stupidly asked,

“Me?” Of course it was him, people are always asking him for stuff. 

“Yes, you! Are you willing to take on the challenge of aiding us in exchange for a reward worth a lifetime?” He asked again. Link doubted the reward would really be _that_ great, but nodded nonetheless, for a hero cannot turn away from someone asking for help. And he’s kinda supposed to be one. 

“Splendid! Follow that road right over there, just keep heading north and His Royal Highness will explain the rest. Now if you excuse me, I must look for more potential helpers, as I cannot call it one and done after one ‘yes’.” They said before promptly returning to his previous yellings. Link looked down, at the direction he was told to go, back at the mystery Zora, and then proceeded to walk to the road. This whole thing was starting to feel like a fever dream, he was half expecting someone to turn into a bird or something at this point. Maybe a seagull. The Lurelin he knew of had a ton of them. Link sighed and continued his trek towards the path the Zora had directed him towards like a good little hero. Except he got distracted by the roadside merchants. 

“How much for one?” Link asked, gulping down drool which threatened to seep through his lips. The delicious aroma of fish wafted into his nose, sending a tingle down his spine and his eyes to sparkle. Fishing was a pain, so he didn’t do it often, and there were fish he didn’t recognize but smelled _very_ good on the kebabs for sale. 

“30 rupees for one, 50 for two!” The merchant chirped with clasped hands and a business smile. Link instantly pulled out his Slate and summoned a Silver rupee, slapping it onto the counter. 

“I’ll take 3, keep the change.” He said, already snagging 3 off of their displays. The merchant stared at his Slate for a moment, open-mouthed and a look of surprise before they recovered and took the rupee, business smile worn stronger than before. 

“How kind of you, Mr. Royal Knight, sir!” They bowed lowly, leaving Link to stare at the other in confusion with a mouth full of fish kebab. Royal what? 

“Pardon?” 

“Leaving so far away from Castle Town to see such a small village like this one, and generously tipping like this, I can only thank you, Mr. Royal Knight, sir!” They were obviously overdoing the honey sweet customer service voice, but Link didn’t bother paying attention to that. He couldn’t even pay attention to the kebab in his mouth, which suddenly tasted like nothing. Castle Town was destroyed, crumbled to nothing and infested with Guardians. The Royal Guards weren’t even in existence anymore, all were slayed or died out with time except for him. Yet this man was talking of them as if they were a common occurrence, and Castle Town wasn’t merely ruins. Link was in a place with monsters he’d never seen before, soldiers in a Lurelin Village that was nothing like the one which he was familiar with, and carriages traveling carefreely. No matter how much Link liked shrugging things off, he couldn’t shrug this off. 

“Do you happen to have a map?” He asked after swallowing what fish was in his mouth. The merchant blinked at him.

“Of the village or the kingdom?” They asked whilst tilting his head. 

“The kingdom.” Link replied. He could figure his way around a village without a map for the most part. The merchant turned around and began to dig through a backpack on the floor, soon pulling out a large roll of paper. Oh, right. Normal people didn’t have a weird ancient slate that showed them a map and their current location. The map was awkwardly handed to him and he accepted it with a nod after storing his kebabs in his slate, unrolling the giant scroll of a map to examine the contents. Oh. 

“This is Hyrule?” He unintentionally said aloud. 

“Y...Yes..?” He heard the other reply. And, sure enough, in weird, slanted and curly Hylian that hurt both his eyes and brain to read, familiar names were scribbled in unfamiliar places, with a giant curled _‘Hyrule’_ on the top right. His eyes darted across the map to find his current location, passing by several names that he was so used to seeing the ‘ruins’ title alongside with it, along with some entirely new names, before he finally found it. Lurelin Village, Northwest of the map, under a large river which broke off to the ocean with some streams, led to various small streams or mountains with others, and led to a giant lake in the upper center of the map which held the name of “Zora’s Domain” with one. Well, that explained the Zora here, then. It explained a lot of things, but raised countless more questions that he decided he was much too mentally tired to think about right now. 

“Thank you for your help.” Link said with a nod prior to snapping a picture of the map for future reference, giving the other a purple rupee and leaving before the other could say anything. He was in Hyrule, but not his own. Whether that meant this was a dream, or another kingdom also named Hyrule he somehow got to, he didn’t know. So far all he knew was that this Hyrule was definitely better off than his, with society not in ruins and the royal family—or at least one member—still lived to be guarded with the Royal Guards which appeared to mainly stick in the not-destroyed Castle Town based off of the merchant’s words. Why all this was, he didn’t know that either. 

But Link had awoken knowing nothing, so he can work with knowing little.He just had to do what people said, like he always did. The king told him to go see Impa, so he saw Impa. Impa told him to save the four divine beasts, so he started to free them. King Dorephan told him he should look into regaining his sword (which a Korok told him was stored in the Lost Woods), so he went into the Lost Woods to obtain it. A Zora told him to follow a path to aid them in their troubles, so he’ll do exactly that. 

Zelda was waiting for him, he couldn’t afford to stop now.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment! Even small (and "mean") ones fuel me! :D


End file.
